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Cal-WSU Postgame Quotes

Cal-WSU Postgame Quotes

By Cal Athletics on Sat, January 18, 2014

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California Head Coach Mike Montgomery

On the game

“We were not ready to play. I don’t think there’s any question about that. I don’t want to take anything away from Washington State. They came out aggressive. They played hard. We weren’t ready to play. You could tell. We were late going onto the floor to shoot. We were late into the locker room. There just wasn’t any kind of intensity in terms of the game. My thing has always been knees bouncing and there was nothing bouncing. You’re worried about that. Frankly, we’re not better than anybody if we don’t play hard. If we can defend, we’re decent. We’ve got a chance. We were really back on our heels and non-aggressive to the basket. We ran the risk of getting down a whole bunch in the first half. Fortunately, we were able to get back. We had a nice little run. David [Kravish] got a couple fouls so we took him out. There was a playing the second half where Richard [Solomon] went after the ball on the offensive glass and it typified how we weren’t ready to play. It was the first time I had seen anyone go after the ball like it meant something. That kind of thing got us turned around. We got out on the break. We were 12-3 assist to turnover in the second half. We moved the ball.”

On if there were defensive adjustments in the second half

“We didn’t. We just guarded. We played hard. There were no adjustments that needed to be made. We were just standing there. They were rebounding the ball. We knew exactly what they were going to run. They got some offensive rebounds. They got to the basket and they made some tough shots. There was nothing we needed to do differently other than just play hard and start defending people.”

On going to LA

“The LA guys are always excited to go down there. We’ve got a Wednesday-Sunday so it’s going to be a little bit of a different schedule. We’re going to go down and then come back after the game on Wednesday so we can be in class Thursday and Friday and then go back for UCLA. Every game is going to be really important, but obviously, going down and taking care of business and being mentally prepared for USC is going to be just as important as anything else. We've just got to win as many games as we can. This whole league is about that. UCLA lost at Utah today. That's a hard roadtrip.”

On getting the bench minutes

“I think what that lends itself to is accountability. If a guy is just not playing that hard we've got to have the guts to take a guy out and put somebody else in there. When the guys coming off the bench can produce the more likely we are to do that. Christian [Behrens] was ok. Jeff [Powers] is smart and always does what he does. Jabari [Bird] made some plays. He just needs some time. Losing that three and a half weeks was such a critical time for him. We did get some contributions from the bench. Big Kameron [Rooks] went in and went 6-and-6. The one rebound he got stands out because he went up and got it. He moved and got it.”

On the chemistry of the team

“Chemistry is always important. Everybody wants to score. There's no question about it. We share the ball and guys get easy baskets, then they tend to play harder. That's critical. If they don’t think they’re going to get the ball when they’re open, then they don't play as hard. I'm trying to get them to trust each other and understand that you will get some good looks if you just play the game and let the game come to you.”

California Players

Justin Cobbs, Senior Guard

On the whole team’s contribution

“The contribution from everybody, you look at the box score and you see even contribution…everybody’s chipping in in any way possible, not just scoring. Guys are coming in doing other things, you don’t need a team full of scorers. We have guys that do things that don’t show up on the box score. I think Kameron [Rooks] played well, made all of his free throws, threw that big body around. I think Jabari [Bird] came in and helped us, brought a lot of energy, and Jeff [Powers], Christian [Behrens], and Sam [Singer] are doing the same thing they’ve been doing with the rotation. I’m happy to see guys finally working and see Jabari healthy and see them get the minutes they deserve.”

On the key component to adapting with David Kravish out for a significant amount of the game

“We always want David in the game, David’s always efficient, always effective…but we just play the same game. Like I was saying before, it’s a team so when one guy isn’t in the game, it doesn’t really affect us. When other guys come in come and other guys go out, we just have to adapt to our team. It’s just a team effort. When one guy goes out it doesn’t mean we shut down and change as a team, we just play the same way and mold our game for whoever comes in.”

On halftime pep-talk from Coach Montgomery

“He just said we we’re lazy, we weren’t coming out with the same intensity that we did when we played Oregon. We came out a little relaxed today, and like I said we weren’t moving, we were standing around in the perimeter. So he just said, ‘you guys earned this 4-0 record, don’t give it up now. I’m just glad in the second half we came out with a lot of energy, moved the ball, got on in the break and we were able to get the win.”

Tyrone Wallace, Sophomore Guard

On what the turnovers, transitions, and easy baskets mean for the team

“Turnovers and getting easy baskets definitely gives us a lot of energy. I think that’s when everyone gets happy and gets out on the break and everybody can score. It’s just more fun than settling down and playing half-court. Getting on transition gives us energy and boosts us.”

On the team’s balance

“We definitely have a talented team and I think it’s just us knowing what each other can do and trying to get the ball to people when they’re in a good spot. Guys know if they can catch and shoot, if they want the ball at the block. Justin and I realize that so we try to get them the ball wherever they want it.”

Washington State Head Coach Ken Bone

On the game

“We came out hard the first half but could not really sustain it the second half. They came out and they punched us in the mouth and that is hard to take and hard to see but again it is a team that is undefeated in the league and very good on their home court, so I don’t want to act like I am just shocked that they came out and beat us. I sure wish we could’ve performed better that second half. I felt like we performed well the first half, we played at our speed which we needed to do, and once Cal was able to get things in transition, well there was a three-minute period where we were up 18-10 and next thing you know they were up 24-18 and then early in the second half I thought that they had some good opportunities in transition. Our court on court defense for a long period of time was pretty good but our transition defense was very poor.”

On Cal’s defense switching to zone

“It is a good defense to run when the other team is not making shots and that coach is pretty good, and he has had a few wins and we didn’t trick him.”

What was the difference?

“I think those guys are really good off the bounce, they were hard to keep in front of us and once they drove it our guys rotate to try to pick him up and the next guy was open right at the rim. DJ did a good job, I thought he had a good game all in all, I am very proud of the way he rebounded but he also scored very well. And we made free throws as a team, three or four guys missed one but eighteen for twenty-two is good for us. In the first half we shot well for three’s and in the second half we didn’t shoot well and they played good defense.”